She's Different Now
by sorallellow
Summary: Once the Queen-bee of Parks High-School, Rapunzel leaves her life of partying, drinking and drugs behind her as she tries to forget an incident that happened over a year ago. But when the new, brilliantly cocky Jack Overland arrives at Parks, he takes an interest in her and attempts to lure out her bad side. A most definitely *Jackunzel* fic, with more fluff that smut.
1. No Way in Hell

Then when he turned around, Jack noticed a strange girl stood in the corner of the shop. Her long blond hair was in a neat bun, tied with a pink ribbon, and she was dressed modestly- more like a Sunday School teacher than a teenager. She was leafing through Great Expectations, a stern expression clouding pretty features.

"Such a shame." A voice spoke behind him and it took a second for him to register who it was.

"What is?" Jack asked, faintly embarrassed that he's just been caught staring.

Eugene shook his head and pointed to the girl. "When a babe like that gets turned into a nun."

Jack chuckled softly. Her dress really was hideous. "Who is she?"

"I don't know her name, just her reputation."

"And what might that be?"

Smiling slightly, Eugene continued to stare at the girl over Jack's shoulder. "She was once like us- slept around, took a lot of pills, had too much fun. But then last year, she was drunk-driving home from a party and her van collided with a young couple's mini-cooper. Both died. Word is, a few weeks after that she started dressing different and acting all up-tight. She's been like that ever since."

Jack turned back to the girl. Unlike Lila, there was no frailty about her, nothing that needed protecting or warmth. Yet he felt drawn to her, as if there was something below the surface of her hostile presence desperate to break-free. Watching her, he was fascinated. Her vast green eyes, her perfect little mouth- she was an enigma just waiting to be solved. It was only after a couple of minutes he realised Eugene was watching him.

"I know what you're thinking, Jack. She's not worth it."

Jack smiled and clapped his shoulder. "You know nothing, Fitzeherbert."

They were staring. Rapunzel hated it when they stared, almost as much as she hated being ignored. It was always the same talk, too. What a pity that the poor girl was cut down in her youth. How unfortunate that her self-hatred turned her into a nun. Well, she certainly wasn't religious, and as for hating herself… It was a little more complex than that.

"Hey, I know this is weird, but can I buy you a drink sometime?" Rapunzel looked up to see the same boy leaning on the bookshelf next to her. He was gorgeous, the kind of face that makes young girls swoon and older ones wish they'd worn more makeup. His blue eyes pierced through her own, making her feel oddly transparent and more than a little uncomfortable.

"Why?" She asked bluntly, as she returned to reading her book. This should make him get the message, she thought.

"Um… I want to?" He laughed. "I'm Jack, by the way."

"Amazing. Now can you leave me alone?"

"Why would I do that?"

He was unbelievable. Blowing a hair from her forehead, Rapunzel marched past him to the checkout. Luckily, he didn't follow her, but she could still feel his gaze on her shoulders. Trudy, the old woman behind the till, gave her a worried look. "Is that boy bothering you, Rapunzel?"

She put on a reassuring smile and shook her head. "I'm used to it."

"Well, if he does it again, tell me straight away." The woman glared behind Rapunzel's shoulder, but she didn't trust herself to look at him. There was something so unnerving about his presence, it put her on edge.

"Thankyou." She passed the book over the till, and Trudy smiled before putting in a paper bag.

"_Another_ classic?" Rapunzel nodded. "That'll be £5, dear."

As soon as Rapunzel left the shop, she heard footsteps behind her and sped up her walking pace. "Christ- I'm not going to attack you, Blondie!"

Turning on her heal, she faced him. "Don't you dare call me that. I don't know who told you, and frankly I don't care, but if you ever call me Blondie again, I swear to god I'll-"

"Woah, woah. _Rapunzel_, then." She stepped back, calming herself. He was just winding her up! She made as if to leave, but Jack grabbed her arm. "Look I'm sorry, how about an apology drink?"

She laughed and shook off his arm. "Nice try, but no way in hell."

He grinned. "I'll take that as a challenge."


	2. Good Intentions

It was the first day back after winter break and Jack was feeling pretty confident on his way to first period. As he walked down the corridor, he spotted golden-blond hair in the midst of the crowd of high-schoolers and knew he'd found her. Pushing passed an intimate couple, he leaned against her locker.  
"What's up?"  
Rapunzel looked up, surprised, and then slammed her locker door in frustration. It was kind of cute, actually. Her mouth formed a little pout and she blew a strand of her hair from her face, leaning her back against the locker door. She was wearing jeans today, a noticeable improvement to the shapeless black dress, and her long hair cascaded down her back in a braid that reached her waist. Her top was baggy and plain, and her shoes looked as if they were donated by a kindergarten teacher- but she weirdly pulled it off in her own 'too cool for school' way. He guessed that fashion didn't really appeal to her, or at least, not anymore. Raising her eyebrows, she looked up into his blue eyes as he looked down into hers. For a heart-beat, everything around them faded into the background as if they were the only two people in the corridor. She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze before finally breaking the silence. "What do you want?"  
He might have been mistaken, but was that a blush forming across her cheeks? Hiding a smirk, Jack pushed on. "Why would I want anything from you, gorgeous?"  
There it was again. This time her neck definitely went red, and Jack chuckled under his breath.  
"Because you were lurking around my locker." She replied, before crossing her arms and walking away from him as fast as possible.  
He jogged to keep up, winking to a hot cheerleader who called his name. "Alright, okay! I _did_ want something, now would you just slow down so I could-"  
She stopped suddenly and swivelled round to face him. "You have 30 seconds."  
"Well... Uh..." Jack began. He hadn't actually expected things to go this well. "Do you, well, maybe want to, I don't know, come to this party on Friday?"  
Rapunzel looked shocked for a moment, but recovered quickly, shaking her head. "Not for me, not anymore. Sorry, Joe."  
"It's Jack." He said, but she had already gone. He couldn't understand it. For a moment back then... Something had happened between them. And she had felt something- he was sure of it. Jack ruffled his hair, suddenly vaguely pissed off. Normally, girls couldn't resist his charm- even ones who hated him. So why wasn't it working now? As Jack walked to his next class, he made a vow that he would get her to come to that party, no matter what the cost.  
"Yo, are you still following that chick around? You know she can file a restraining order against you." Jack smirked as Eugene put his arm round him. "She's a proper head case man. I know she's hot, but she's not anything special."  
Jack shook his head, a cocky grin forming on his lips. "You're one to talk."  
Eugene pushed Jack's shoulder, laughing. "So what's your plan? Fuck her?"  
"You're disgusting." He joked, giving Eugene an equally hard shove back. "My intentions are totally pure."  
"Yeah, yeah."  
"Then again, maybe not." Jack said, thinking of her caramel skin and curvy yet petite figure. Eugene chuckled, and stopped just outside the English classroom. "But I will say, I'm interested in her. She's different, you know?"  
"Careful, Jack. You know what they say." Jack looked at him questioningly and he gave a dramatic sight. "Curiosity killed the cat."  
"Satisfaction brought him back." Jack quipped as he walked through the door, smiling at Rapunzel who averted her gaze almost instantly. She was sat at the front of the class and Jack wondered why he had never properly noticed her before. Sure, he had only arrived this semester, but how could he have not recognized her- after all, they had three classes together. He followed Eugene to the back of the class where two girls sat gossiping on their left and to his right, a guy, who must have been around 6ft 6, slept on his desk. Eugene chatted to him about the party, his boyfriend, football, and his boyfriend some more. But all Jack could focus on was Rapunzel. How delicate her shoulders were. The way she would flick her plait over her shoulder every so often. How intently she watched the teacher, as if she actually cared about the subject.  
It must have been so awful, that night. The guilt drove her to give up everything, her friends, her whole life. The walls she put up between herself and the rest of the world must be to prevent herself from getting hurt like that again, Jack thought, or from hurting other people.  
"Hey, are you listening to me?" Eugene thumped a hand on Jack's desk.  
"Mmm" He replied, chewing the end of his pen.  
"So you think I should propose to him tonight?"  
"Uhhuh." Jack said, still watching Rapunzel. And then Eugene's words sunk in. "Wait what?!"  
Eugene sniggered and Jack punched his arm. "You're acting like a love-sick 12 year old, man, this needs to stop. I swear you only realized she existed yesterday."  
"I know, I know. I just wish I could figure her out."  
"Then invite her to the party- I'm sure Elsa won't mind."  
"That's the problem. I already did."  
"Wait. She turned you down?" Eugene smirked. "So that's what this is about."  
Jack put his head in his hands. "It's not _about_ anything."  
"I can't believe she shot you down."  
"That's not even the worst part." Jack shook his head. "She called me Joe."  
Eugene snorted loudly, and the whole class suddenly went silent before turning round to look at him. The whole class, that is, except Rapunzel. She continued to stare dreamily out the window as if she was unaware of anything happening around her. The teacher, Mr Lees, sighed; putting down the book he was reading an extract from. "Yes, Eugene?"  
"Nothing."  
"No really, I'm sure we could all benefit from your insightful humour."  
"You're alright, sir."  
"No, I insist."  
"Sir I really don't think that-"  
"Maybe you can stay after class for an hour instead?" He said, exasperated.  
Eugene smiled a little, and looked down at Jack- who shook his head furiously. "Don't." He mouthed.  
But Eugene just shrugged his shoulders and smirked. "Jack was just telling me that a certain girl he liked _dumped_ him before class." The classroom erupted in laughter, and Jack looked over to Rapunzel, but she was still facing the front. He was pretty sure he had gone bright red- Eugene was going to pay for this later. "Yeah, she even got his name wrong-"  
Suddenly, Rapunzel rose from her chair. The class went deadly silent as they watched her pack up her bag, and, very calmly, push in her chair and walk out the door. As soon as she left, the whole room filled with noise, and Eugene sat down again, putting his feet on the desk in triumph.  
"WHY DID YOU DO THAT?" Jack asked, grabbing his collar.  
"Calm down, man. I was only telling the truth." He said, shocked at the seriousness in Jack's tone.  
"Settle down 11H!" Mr Lees called over the racket, but Jack wasn't finished yet. He loved Eugene like a brother, but he always had to take things too far. Rapunzel was never going to speak to him again now- why couldn't he have just made something up?!  
Jack stood up, pushing Eugene backwards until he almost fell off his chair. Eugene retaliated by kicking Jack's stomach in defence and soon they were on top of each other, grabbing and punching whatever they could. All hell broke loose, and the class crowded round them. Mr Lees pushed the circle of students out the way, yelling at the top of his voice: "Head-masters office. Both of you. _Now._"


End file.
